The new restaurant opens in time for dinner today, Sunday, in the restaurant building that had been Sergio’s, one of Appleton’s oldest Mexican restaurants, at 2639 S. Oneida St. in Appleton.

Sergio’s owner George Wall retired and sold the restaurant to Shirley Gregory and Luis Vazquez, owners of two successful Sangria’s Mexican Grills in Appleton and Green Bay.

Gregory says they liked the location and the layout of the restaurant. “It’s well designed as a Mexican restaurant,” she said.

But they didn’t want to replicate their own nearby Sangria’s restaurant, so they changed the look and created a new menu.

“We stayed with the hacienda feel and added hacienda resort features from places Luis had been in Mexico,” she said. “We have the new fountain, live plants and wrought iron grates on the windows so you feel like you’re outside looking in. We have Mexico department of tourism posters on the walls. We want to make you feel like you went somewhere, to a resort.”

Artist Cal Jones painted faux stone walls and a mural of rum bottles in the bar. The former beige dining room walls are now warm terra cotta and burnt red. The formerly gray bar room was repainted in orange and terra cotta, and they added a tiki roof, strung lights and umbrellas at the tables to give a feeling of being outside.

The large restaurant can seat 420 people at its large dining room, party room and outdoor patio. The bar seats 170.

Prices that run from a $4.99 lunch to $27.99 for the most expensive dinner. Most dinner entrees are $10 to $14. Margaritas run $5.99 up to the fishbowl-size at $10.99. Handcrafted mojitos are $5.99. The website will list daily two-for-one drinks specials.

Besides the usual burritos, chimichangas and fajitas, the menu has unusual dishes from many regions of Mexico.

“We stepped out of Veracruz,” she said. “We have things not seen anywhere else around here, like mole blanco, a while mole sauce, and a Mexican truffle sauce made with huitlacoche. We have stuffed plantains. They’re hollowed out and stuffed with seafood.”

Mojitos are originally from Cuba, but Gregory said people in Mexico like them too. They have multiple variations using fresh fruit juices like passionfruit and guava for a Mexican flair.

Mojito’s opens today at 4 p.m. The restaurant will normally open at 11 a.m. everyday and stay open until 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 8 p.m. on Sunday. See more at mojitosmexicangrill.com or call 920-955-3778.